People with a big yard need someone (a landscaper) to take care of their lawn. You can be that someone (not just for fun) and do a business out of it. Yes, a landscaping business can be profitable if you have a plan and passion.
This business has rapidly increased since 2016 (increasing 3.6% ever since). 60% of the residential homes with small families need landscaping services. In 2020, 60% of the landscaping services had beat their revenue expectations.
I hope these stats are convincing enough to help you understand why the landscaping business is profitable. Then, once you start your landscaping business, you can be on your local client’s search list of – landscapers near me.
In this article, I will tell you how to start a business as a landscaper.
How To Start A Landscaping Business: Tips To Start A Business As A Landscaper
What do you need to start a landscaping business? How to plan a landscaping business? These tips have answers to those questions and a step-by-step guide.
1. Get Certified
It is undeniable that your business would benefit from the academic credentials you have acquired. Especially if you become an expert landscape architect, it would help your customers to rely on you comparatively more than your competitors.
Yes, there is a business opportunity in this industry. But, if you don’t know what a landscaper does, you are probably starting at the wrong time (before getting a clear idea). That is why it is crucial to get certified as a landscaper.
Certification courses are available on –
- Contractors.
- Horticulturists.
- Lawn care managers.
- Other landscape professionals.
- Lawn care technicians.
2. Start With A Plan
Once you have your certification courses ready, you can make start with a plan. As a landscaper, you need to come up with a budget-friendly business plan. It would help if you outlined certain areas like –
- The services you will provide.
- Your area of expertise as a landscaper.
- The budget required for acquiring equipment, fertilizers, and pesticides.
- Also, based on your budget and expectation, you should read a target for the upcoming year.
3. Select Services To Provide
You got your certification and your plan ready. Now, you should decide on the services you will provide as a landscaper. Indeed your goal would be to take care of the health of someone’s lawns. But, the services you choose to offer matter both for your client and for your business.
If you ask for suggestions, some typical examples would be –
- Mowing.
- Weed control.
- Dethatching.
- Fertilizing.
- Cleanups.
- Aeration.
- Lime application.
- Pruning.
4. Form Business Entity As A Landscaper
When forming a business, you need to follow a particular business structure and form your business entity. For instance, you can set up your business as a sole proprietor. When forming your business as a sole proprietor, all the business liabilities will be related to you.
But, if you want to create your business as a separate entity, you should form your business as an LLC ( limited liability company). An LLC separates any liability of your company away from your personal assets. It keeps you protected from bankruptcy, lawsuit, or other risks.
5. Create A Bank Account
Separating your business as an LLC corporation is beneficial to defend you against any accident. The same applies to your bank account. It helps to create a separate bank account for your business as a landscaper.
A separate business bank account helps in many ways-
- Keep track of your expenses.
- Helping you with a better evaluation of your wealth.
- It helps keep your personal and business assets separate.
6. Get License And Permits
When starting a business as a landscaper, you need some licenses and permits. These licenses and permits might vary based on different factors like –
- They survive as a landscaper you are providing.
- Your state.
- Specialty landscaping services.
For a basic landscaper service, you won’t need any permits or licenses. If you are planning to use pesticides, you need permits to use them in all states of the US.
7. Set Prices For Landscaper Services
You need to now set prices for your landscaping services. Since you are beginning, it might be tough to come up with the perfect pricing plan for your services. You might face some trials and errors. But, you can check a few parameters and set your price accordingly. Here are some parameters to help you set a price for landscaper services –
- You can check what your competitors charge in your area.
- Your experience level can also be the baseline for your change.
- Also, you can assess the price based on your expenditure.
- You can also charge your client based on the hour of your service and square feet of a lawn.
8. Buy Necessary Equipment
The time for you to buy the necessary equipment and become a mister landscaper is here. I have listed the most important equipment landscapers use.
- Lawnmower.
- Rake.
- Weedwhacker.
- Leaf blower.
- Shovel.
- Clippers and pruning shears.
- Fertilizing equipment.
- Hoe.
- Lawn aerator.
- Buckets.
- Eye and ear protection.
- Gardening gloves.
- Hedge trimmer.
9. Market Your Landscaping Business
Marketing is as important an initiative for a business as any of the rest. If your business area is within a certain locality, you can just go door to door and market your products. But, some more advanced and useful methods of marketing are available. You can take these, for instance –
- First, you can build a website.
- Create a profile on Google My business.
- Start creating social media content.
- Local advertising also works.
- Word of mouth works best if you are running a business in a locality.
The whole purpose of going online is to cut costs on marketing. It is an efficient way of gaining clients by spending a little.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):
I hope the steps mentioned above were helpful. If you need any further answers, the following questions and answers might be helpful.
As a landscaper, you can expect an average net profit of around 5 percent. But, a landscaping company that is running well can profit up to 10 to 12 percent.
It is not easy to get your landscaping clients. But here are some tricks that should definitely help –
1. Building a referral program might be helpful.
2. Invest in time-saving equipment.
3. Use Facebook and Instagram for advertising.
4. The best way yet is to get involved in your community.
5. Branding your business also helps.
Business as a landscaper is quite tough to handle. If you want to make enough money, these tricks should help-
1. You should measure and study each job.
2. Your service needs to be different than the competitors.
3. Always look for good opportunities.
4. Seek out opportunities with a higher margin.
5. Be smarter at buying.
Bottom Line
Starting any business is not easy. But, it also does not have to be too complicated. Understanding a plan and coming up with a budget will help to create the perfect business as a landscaper. In this article, I have already provided the easiest steps to start your landscaping business. Once you go through the steps, you should already have an idea.
However, if you need any further help, you can always reach out to us in the comment. We will try to get back to you as soon as possible.
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Shahnawaz Alam
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Shahnawaz is a passionate and professional Content writer. He loves to read, write, draw and share his knowledge in different niches like Technology, Cryptocurrency, Travel,Social Media, Social Media Marketing, and Healthcare.
Shahnawaz is a passionate and professional Content writer. He loves to read, write, draw and share his knowledge in different niches like Technology, Cryptocurrency, Travel,Social Media, Social Media Marketing, and Healthcare.
